Times are changing and everything has been moving a lot faster over the past two years, right? You can buy a home in 30 days without having to have it inspected. Your groceries get delivered, you can work out in a magic mirror, and restaurants will bring their food right to your door. In most instances, however, in the automotive industry, there is still a face-to-face component that requires a good combination of charm, savviness, and authenticity.

How are all of these traits achieved? Through training, of course. Certainly, you can find an excellent salesperson right off the street, but the art of the deal is nuanced. There are still certain aspects of customer service that need to be taught and the importance of these aspects should be focused upon, heavily.

If your sales team is showing some difficulty in closing the deal with a customer, you have to ask yourself why that is happening. Is he or she underqualified? Let’s hope not, as increased turnover is not something any dealership needs in this strange market. Chances are, your salespeople have either never been trained properly or the adjustment of the industry has caused a slip back into bad habits.

It is no secret that the automotive industry has changed dramatically over the past couple of years. We started seeing the shift towards more internet business before COVID, but the decreased feeling of safety and government mandates pushed your BDC and Internet departments into the limelight. Were they ready for that?

Most of your salespeople can fumble their way through a phone call and then they shine when the person is sitting in front of them. However, as the industry really adjusts and a lot of deals are being handled over the phone and NOT in person, wouldn’t you argue that phone skills and training are of the utmost importance in these changing times?

Without ongoing training, your employees and yourself can be allowed to slip back into bad habits, especially when the focus changes. Let’s be real, the automotive industry is barely recognizable from five years ago. We have car lots with fewer than fifty cars that used to boast hundreds. Websites have included “buy from home” buttons on most of their inventory and there seems to be no end in sight.

Are your employees prepared to deal with the new way in dealerships or are they trying to fit a square peg in a round hole by using what USED to work? In this instance, the 3 days’ worth of training when they first started in your store is not going to cut it. In a field that changes on a daily basis, we need to keep our skills fresh. We must make sure that our training sessions are following what is happening and our teams are learning to pivot.

If you are unsure if your staff is able to handle the coming changes to the automotive industry or if things have been different since the pandemic, ongoing coaching is right up your alley. Not only do it offer comprehensive training packages to ensure proper phone skills, but the training is ongoing. Certified coaches work in tandem with your salespeople to emphasize the importance of proper phone training through 1-on-1 instruction, recorded coaching, and monthly reviews.

It's a new world…

If you’re watching the news, any news, over the past year and a half, since the COVID-19 restrictions were loosened across the country, it is blatantly obvious that retaining staff has been an issue. Across all industries, hiring and maintaining capable staff members has been practically impossible.

The automotive industry is no exception. Given the limitations set by government shut-downs and further complications from industry supply, car dealerships are still struggling to find replacements for their former employees or new employees that are ready and willing to come to work.

See what happened is the government, both local and federal, made it really easy to refuse to go back to work. With the supplemental income provided with unemployment compensation, many people were making more money to be at home than they were from actually being on the floor selling cars. Commission based businesses are still struggling. Not to mention it’s an outdated structure for compensation at most dealerships.

This is where hiring practices come in. With stricter standards and a more rigorous interview processes, you’re sorting out the best of the best when outfitting your store. You want people who are proud to work for you and were happy to come back when business restrictions subsided. However, this isn’t where the attention to your staff needs to stop.

Not only are you looking for people to staff your store that have a solid work ethic, drive, ambition, and charm, but you also want people who will be moldable to the culture of that store. Too often we encounter potential employees who glad hand their way into positions and six weeks to three months down the line, we’re looking for their replacement.

The car business isn’t a difficult one in which to get your feet wet, but it is nearly impossible to find the right hire 100% of the time. However, with the right training that “impossible” moves to probable. Your sales, BDC, and your service teams need to rise to the reputation the dealership has established and the way to make that happen is with proper formalized ongoing coaching and training.

Customer service is how you’re going to win customers over the same brand dealership ten miles down the road. If you demonstrate to your customers that they are of the utmost importance, you will be able to ensure a customer for life. How do you do that?

A lot of your business is going to be conducted over the phone, especially today. Most people are still of the mindset of only leaving their homes for the very necessary items and it is up to you to make sure the car on your lot is part of that need. In this instance, your basic training and sloppy phone skills aren’t going to cut it.

Today the need has arisen for advanced and ongoing phone coaching and training. Not only to help to make your sales, service, and parts teams more comfortable talking to customers, but also to help to ensure they are in control of the call. No more are your sales people simply providing inventory information and hanging up the phone. Ongoing and active telephone coaching offers incredible results which will improve appointment set rates by double or triple when used properly and consistently.

Don’t delay! Your staff needs this and your customers want this!

At this point in time, we all know about the effects of negative press on specific industries, but for many years, the vilification of car salesmen has been allowable. However, in light of new advertisements hitting the media market, we have to ask the question as to whether or not the negativity has gone too far.

As members of the automotive industry, most people are all too familiar with the negative light in which car dealerships are bathed. Salespeople are saddled with the ghosts of how business used to be done. Back before the days of the internet, dealerships were able to pull in massive amounts of inventory and pad the profit margins by inflating the price of the vehicles well above MSRP.

With the advent of the internet, those margins were quickly being closed as a result of potential customers being able to search manufacturer websites. These customers became easily incensed at the idea of prices being increased by thousands of dollars on top of what the manufacturer was already requesting.

Let’s be honest, purchasing a car is one of the biggest financial decisions a consumer can make, second only to buying a home. Overcharging customers isn’t going to keep your dealership above ground for very long, so salespeople have had to pivot when it comes to sales practices. Unfortunately, these unfair and, really, heinous business practices have traveled well into the 21st century and saddled salespeople with a reputation they don’t deserve.

While many salespeople, and dealerships alike, have abandoned these unscrupulous practices, the industry’s critics have yet to acknowledge this. In fact, specific competitors are perpetuating a dangerous stereotype. Whether it’s using terrifying clowns, a torturous salesman, or strong-arming sales teams, these television spots are at best unfair, but more realistically bordering on slanderous.

Many scrupled salespeople struggle to shed the past reputation of shady sales practices in order to make a living. Car sales team members have families, they have mortgages, and car payments themselves. Despite what many may think, not all salespeople are driving free demo models, working from 9-5, nor diving into swimming pools of cash.

However, these commercials that are saturating the TV market are forcing these dealership employees back into the dark ages. While your employees work to make the dealership successful and walk away with enough money to pay their bills, they’re now combatting competitive marketers to make ends meat.

While having options may seem advantageous to car buyers, let’s examine the dangers inherent in these practices. People are now buying vehicles sight unseen. What could possibly go wrong with that? Well, everything, to be completely honest. Your average consumer doesn’t understand what the Lemon Law actually entails and purchasing a vehicle online without ever driving it or even laying eyes on it in person allows little legal recourse.

Car salespeople have enough of a challenge to get their foot in the door in the market and to compete with their fellow salespeople. Do they really need to be fighting the advertising budgets of these sales companies who are suggesting their process is better, more economical, or even safer than walking into a dealership and speaking to someone who is looking to fulfill customer needs?